Batman: Arkham City

SO WHAT'S HAPPENING?!

Arkham City is sitatuted months after the events of Arkham Asylum, and the old Asylum boss is now mayor of the fine city of Gotham. Rather than leave the inmates behind in their... rather rough digs, he takes them with him and puts them in a cordoned off part of the city. Sounds like a good idea doesn't it?! There's a guy called Hugo Strange in charge, and he has particularly brutal punishments for any criminal who tries to escape, but isn't too fussed at the general unrule that goes on within the walls of Arkham City.

The city itself is amazing, highly detailed surroundings with tons of villains to fight. The same awesome combat mechanic is still in place, one button to attack and one to dodge, with some minor enhancements made; you can take out multiple enemies at once and most of your gadgets can be assigned to hot keys. Defeating enemies gains you experience points, experience points buys upgrades, upgrades mean more butt kicking.

As the game progresses, simple button mashing won't work anymore, and you'll be cursing that you didn't purchase the particular upgrade you need now when you could afford it earlier. Certain encounters during the latter stages of the game can become infuritating if you can't get the timing of your attacks right, leading you to fall over dead and have a sarcastic video message from one your enemies played back to you while you wait to reload.

But we guess that's a good thing. Tougher random thug encounters makes up for the rather easy boss fights. Some are so easy, they shouldn't really be considered boss fights at all. We're not sure why things are this way, but we're certainly not complaining. Arkham City is an amazing experience, with a veritable who's who cast of characters, some familiar faces from throughout the Dark Knight's history.

The Riddler is also back to keep you on your toes, with his puzzles and hidden trophies sure to get you scratchin' your noggin, and there's also playable sections for Catwoman, who looks rather dashing in her catsuit. MEOW.

If you've ever wanted to feel like the Caped Crusader, nothing else will do it quite as well as Arkham City. Bar actually dressing like Batman and going on a crime fighting spree. But don't do that.